


Not Alone

by DanjaBlue



Series: The Cube Chronicles [2]
Category: Star Trek: Picard
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Family, Past Character Death, Spoilers, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23322181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanjaBlue/pseuds/DanjaBlue
Summary: OneShot.  Seven remembers Icheb. R&R.
Relationships: Elnor & Seven of Nine, Icheb & Seven of Nine
Series: The Cube Chronicles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663918
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	Not Alone

Seven sat on the edge of her bunk, squeezing Icheb’s comm badge. A room divider stood before her (she installed it as a courtesy to Elnor, whose bunk lay on the other side of the divider).

The Queen’s Alcove sat at the far opposite end of the chamber. (Seven the Soldier refused to use it, preferring instead to sleep in her bunk. She was somewhat leery of the Queen’s power. Memories of the Queen communicating with her while she was regenerating in her alcove on Voyager haunted her.)

Seven alternated between staring at Icheb’s badge, fingering it, and squeezing it. A small leather box sat on the bed next to her.

“Seven? Are you all right?” a male voice asked.

Seven looked up with a start, her eyes darting around the room. She finally noticed Elnor standing at the entrance to her sleeping area.

“Elnor," Seven said with a sigh of relief.

“Are you all right?” Elnor asked.

“I’m fine,” Seven replied.

“What is that? If you don’t mind my asking,” Elnor asked, referring to Icheb’s comm badge.

“This was my son’s. This was his comm badge," Seven replied, showing Elnor the badge.

“He was in Starfleet?” Elnor inquired.

Seven nodded. “He was a Lieutenant,” she replied. She then added, her voice choking with emotion, “First Borg ever to graduate from Starfleet Academy.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you,” Elnor apologized.

Seven shook her head. “It’s not you,” she said quietly.

“May I sit down?” Elnor asked.

Seven moved over, making room for Elnor on her bunk.

_God, I could use a nice stiff drink right about now,_ Seven thought. She took the leather box that sat beside her and placed it in her lap. She opened it to reveal three comm badges.

“This was his badge from the Coleman,” said Seven as she passed the comm badge to Elnor. Elnor turned the badge over. “Lt. Icheb”, “USS Coleman”, and his Starfleet serial number were engraved on the back.

“I pulled it off his body,” Seven continued.

Seven took a comm badge out of the box. “This was his badge from Voyager,” she said as she passed the badge to Elnor.

Elnor took the badge from Seven and turned it over. “Icheb” and “USS Voyager” were engraved on the back.

“It’s nowhere near as elaborate as his Starfleet badge,” said Seven. “It was only supposed to be temporary … until we got back to Earth.”

“Voyager found him in an abandoned cube along with several other Borg children,” Seven continued. “We pulled them out of maturation tanks.” She then added, “He was a teenager when we found him.”

Elnor passed the two badges back to Seven, who placed them back in the box. Seven took the other badge out of the box and passed it to Elnor.

“This was mine … from Voyager,” said Seven as she passed the badge to Elnor. Elnor turned the badge over. “7 of 9” and “USS Voyager” were engraved on the back.

“All that’s left of my son … is in this box,” said Seven. “He’s one reason I seized the cube.

“After seeing all those mutilated Borg _,_ I didn’t want another parent to go through what _I_ did … with Icheb.”

“What happened to him?” Elnor asked. 

“It’s a long story,” said Seven. “He was tortured, mutilated … _butchered_ … for his implants.” She spat out the word “butchered”.

“He was a _Starfleet officer_ ,” Seven continued, anger rising in her voice. “Where was Starfleet? Why weren’t they there for my son?

“He wore their uniform and took on their ways, but it wasn’t enough. To them, he was Borg.

“Before he was a Starfleet officer, before _anything_ else … he was Borg.”

Elnor handed Seven’s comm badge back to her. “I’m sorry,” he said.

Seven shook her head. “It’s all right,” she said. “I keep forgetting I’m not alone.”

THE END


End file.
